New psychoactive substances

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explosion
Packaging Herbal Ecstasy
One 2C-I tablet
Spice , a psychoactive herbal mixture, which is mixed with synthetic cannabinoids.

New psychoactive substances (NPS) , also: designer drugs , “legal highs”, “herbal highs”, research chemicals or bath salt drugs, are psychoactive substances that are offered as herbal mixtures , air fresheners , cleaning agents , bath salts or ecstasy . In Germany, the legislature designates a substance or a preparation of a substance from the substance groups listed in the annex to the NpSG (derivatives of 2-phenethylamine , benzodiazepines , N- (2-aminocyclohexyl) amide, tryptamine and cannabinoid mimetics ) as a new psychoactive substance .

These products are mostly offered openly on the Internet, in smart shops or head shops, or covertly on darknet markets, for example under the names Explosion or Spice . They often contain intoxicants, stimulants or similar chemical agents that are not shown on the packaging. New psychoactive substances (NPS) are consumed for intoxication purposes .

The number of newly discovered substances on the European drug market has been growing for years. In 2011, a total of 49 new psychoactive substances were reported to the EU's early warning system. Some of the substances marketed as NPS as BZP , mephedrone or Methylenedioxypyrovalerone and synthetic, on cannabinoid receptors acting alkyl indole - derivatives JWH-018 , JWH-019 and JWH-073 have now been to in Germany Narcotics Act assumes (Narcotics Act). However, new substances are constantly being brought onto the market in order to circumvent the Narcotics Act. The health consequences and their effects are not foreseeable for consumers.

effect

The current state of knowledge about the effect is currently based predominantly on reports from consumers. The consumption of NPS is aimed at an intoxicating effect. A basic distinction must be made between the various available substances. Incense mixtures contain mostly synthetic cannabinoids and are supposed to create a cannabis-like high state. In addition, there are “bath salts”, which mainly consist of amphetamine-like substances and therefore trigger a state of intoxication similar to amphetamine. The third group available is Herbal Ecstasy , which consists partly of wood rose seeds , but also of other, synthetic, components. All of these different substances should either induce a calming, pleasant intoxication or have a strongly invigorating or hallucinogenic effect.

hazards

Most substances are random developments; see also lead structure (pharmacology) and drug design . Neither the exact mode of action nor any short- and long-term consequences are sufficiently documented in any way. The degree of purity of the active chemical components is also not guaranteed, so that they may contain toxic impurities and intermediate production steps.

In an online survey on NPS by the Center for Drug Research at Goethe University Frankfurt in 2011, consumers reported side effects such as anxiety, headaches, nausea, palpitations, circulatory problems, circulatory failure and fainting, as well as poisoning, delusions and psychoses . It has been proven that several people have died in recent years after (mixed) consumption of NPS.

Case reports are known according to which the consumption of synthetic cathinones (bath salt drugs) led to severe psychotic anxiety and confusion with immediate self-endangerment and endangerment of the environment as well as life-threatening organ damage ( rhabdomyolysis with acute kidney failure ). The NEJM reported in detail about another incident in 2016 under the title Zombie Outbreak in New York. 33 people were found in a helpless state who were noticed by slowed, robot-like movements (zombie-like) and incomprehensible voices. 18 of them were hospitalized and afterwards analysis was able to prove for the first time the involvement of a Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol derivative as a trigger. The substance found, AMB-FUBINACA, is a synthetic cannabinoid that was previously developed and patented by Pfizer for research into analgesics and the cannabinoid receptor system. This NPS is illegally circulated under the name AK47-Gold and is 50 times more potent than THC .

From 2012 to 2014, 214 motorized traffic collisions in Japan were attributed to illicit drug use. In 93 of 96 more closely examined cases, the substances involved were probably synthetic cannabinoids (SC). After the laws were tightened accordingly, the number of cases has decreased since 2015.

Deaths

In Germany, the number of recorded deaths caused by NPS rose from 39 in 2015 to 76 in 2016. If the deaths from synthetic opioids (including fentanyl derivatives ) recorded for the first time in 2016 are also taken into account, the total number in 2016 was 98. The increase in deaths from 2015 after 2016 was therefore significantly higher for NPS than the already widely noticed increase of 9% for illegal drugs overall.

dose

When using NPS, it is often difficult for the consumer to adequately assess his or her own reaction to the substances by initially using a low dosage, since some substances can create a strong need to increase the dose. This increases the risk of an overdose, which can lead to life-threatening conditions and even death.

Analytics

For the reliable qualitative and quantitative determination of the various constituents of the NPS, the methods of chromatography are used in combination with mass spectrometry . The sample preparation, which is always necessary, depends on the test material. Research results from the Institute for Forensic Medicine at the University Hospital in Bonn were published in 2013.

Legal position

Germany

Status since 2016

The New Psychoactive Substances Act (NpSG) came into force on November 26, 2016 in order to close an existing loophole in the law. According to § 2 of the NpSG, a new psychoactive substance is “a substance or a preparation of a substance from one of the groups of substances listed in the annex ”. In addition to the individual substance approach of the Narcotics Act, the NpSG contains a substance group regulation in order to be able to counter NPS legally more effectively. The NpSG prohibits trading in a new psychoactive substance , placing it on the market, manufacturing it, relocating it, acquiring it, owning it or administering it to someone else ( Section 3 (1) NpSG). Excluded from the prohibition are, among other things, “ uses of a new psychoactive substance for commercial, industrial or scientific purposes recognized according to the current state of science and technology ” ( Section 3 (2) NpSG). According to Section 4, Paragraph 1 of the NpSG, trading, placing on the market and administering new psychoactive substances is a criminal offense. Possession or acquisition of NPS are based on § 4 not prosecuted NPSG, but are by § 3 prohibited NPSG and are independent of a criminal case, the administrative seizure and destruction in accordance with §§ 47 to 50 of the Federal Police Act and the regulations of the police laws of Countries.

The five groups of psychoactive substances subject to the ban are listed in the annex to the law:

Status from 2014 to 2016

Two years before the NpSG of 2016, the European Court of Justice had confirmed the Federal Court of Justice in a ruling in 2014 , according to which NPS, including those expressly marketed as a legal substitute for cannabis, did not fall under the term medicinal product. The European Court of Justice concluded in its judgment:

"Art. 1 No. 2 letter b of Directive 2001/83 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the creation of a Community code for medicinal products for human use in the scope of Directive 2004/27 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004, as amended, is to be interpreted as meaning that it does not cover substances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, the effects of which are limited to a simple influencing of the physiological functions without being suitable for being directly or indirectly beneficial to human health which are only consumed to induce a state of intoxication and which are harmful to health. "

The NpS law took this view of the European Court of Justice into account. The NpSG does not apply to medicinal products.

Austria

The “New Psychoactive Substances Act” (NPSG) in Austria provides for imprisonment for traders of one to ten years from February 1, 2012. Anyone who deliberately creates, imports, exports or leaves or arranges for a new psychoactive substance to be used by the other or a third party to achieve a psychoactive effect in the human body is punished with imprisonment of up to two years.

In contrast to the Narcotics Act , the penalty in such cases is purely on the supply side. Buyers are not criminalized. Nevertheless, the executive is entitled to seize psychoactive substances if the consumer cannot credibly convey that he is not consuming the products to change consciousness. Nevertheless, there is no penalty.

Switzerland

On December 1, 2011, Switzerland made 52 substances and 7 derivatives from the field of NPS or designer drugs subject to the Narcotics Act for the first time . One year later, on December 1, 2012, the Federal Department of Home Affairs prohibited a further 46 substances by changing the Narcotics Register Ordinance. The use, manufacture and trade have since been subject to the Narcotics Act.

Reform efforts

In the interests of uniform, sufficiently specific and proportionate criminal legislation, the European Union is striving, among other things, to establish a risk assessment procedure for new psychoactive substances.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Federal Criminal Police Office and the drug commissioner of the federal government warn against the consumption of “legal highs” ( memento of the original dated November 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 4, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bka.de
  2. ^ The internet and drug markets. In: emcdda.europa.eu. Retrieved May 5, 2016 .
  3. ^ Mike Power: Life after Silk Road: How the darknet drugs market is booming. In: theguardian.com. June 21, 2014, accessed May 5, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Frank Patalong: Legal Highs: On the bad trip through bath salts. In: Spiegel Online . January 23, 2011, accessed May 5, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Juliane Ziegler: Every week a new substance. In: Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung. 4th July 2012.
  6. ↑ Legal high - legal high? ( January 31, 2016 memento on the Internet Archive ), Drugcom, accessed January 4, 2012.
  7. ^ F. Musshoff, L. Hottmann, C. Hess, B. Madea: "Legal highs" from the German internet - "bath salt drugs" on the rise. In: Arch Kriminol. 232 (3-4), Sep-Oct 2013, pp. 91-103. German. PMID 24358620
  8. ↑ New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) from mindzone.info (accessed August 16, 2017).
  9. ↑ MA Huestis, SD Brandt, S. Rana, V. Auwärter, MH Baumann: Impact of Novel Psychoactive Substances on Clinical and Forensic Toxicology and Global Public Health. In: Clinical chemistry. [electronic publication before printing] June 2017, doi: 10.1373 / clinchem.2017.274662 , PMID 28667187 (free full text).
  10. ↑ "Legal highs" are banned. on: derstandard.at , December 16, 2011, accessed on January 19, 2012.
  11. ↑ Information on "Legal Highs". (PDF) City of Frankfurt am Main - Drugs Department
  12. ↑ Legal highs in Upper Swabia: woman dies after smoking dangerous herbs. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung, January 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Legal highs: Two dead in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. on: aerzteblatt.de , May 20, 2016.
  14. ^ TI Benzer, SH Nejad, JG Flood: Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Case 40-2013. A 36-year-old man with agitation and paranoia. In: N Engl J Med. 369 (26), 2013, pp. 2536-2545. doi: 10.1056 / NEJMcpc1304051 . PMID 24369079 , first page (PDF)
  15. ↑ Roy Gerona et al.  : “Zombie” Outbreak Caused by the Synthetic Cannabinoid AMB-FUBINACA in New York. NEJM , January 19, 2017, doi: 10.1056 / NEJMoa1610300
  16. ↑ S. Kaneko: Motor vehicle collisions caused by the 'super-strength' synthetic cannabinoids, MAM-2201, 5F-PB-22, 5F-AB-PINACA, 5F-AMB and 5F-ADB in Japan experienced from 2012 to 2014. In: Forensic toxicology. Volume 35, number 2, 2017, pp. 244-251, doi: 10.1007 / s11419-017-0369-6 , PMID 28706566 , PMC 5486620 (free full text) (review).
  17. ↑ BD Paul, T. Bosy: A sensitive GC-EIMS method for simultaneous detection and quantification of JWH-018 and JWH-073 carboxylic acid and hydroxy metabolites in urine. In: J Anal Toxicol. 39 (3), Apr 2015, pp. 172-182. PMID 25691387
  18. ↑ T. Toyo'oka, R. Kikura-Hanajiri: A Reliable Method for the Separation and Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoids by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry, and Its Application to Plant Products. In: Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 63 (10), 2015, pp. 762-769. PMID 26423032
  19. ^ Y. Erol Öztürk, O. Yeter, B. AlpANYA: Validation of JWH-018 and its metabolites in blood and urine by UPLC-MS / MS: Monitoring in forensic cases. In: Forensic Sci Int. 248, Mar 2015, pp. 88-93. PMID 25616218
  20. ↑ VL Borova, P. Gago-Ferrero, C. Pistos, N. Thomaidis: Multi-residue determination of 10 selected new psychoactive substances in wastewater samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In: Talanta. 144, Nov 1, 2015, pp. 592-603. PMID 26452866
  21. ↑ Musshoff F, Hottmann L, Hess C, Madea B: Legal highs "from the German internet -" bath salt drugs "on the rise. , Arch Kriminol. 2013 Sep-Oct; 232 (3-4): 91-103 , PMID 24358620
  22. ↑ New Psychoactive Substances Act (NpSG) , Federal Law Gazette I p. 2615
  23. ↑ Thomas Schmidt: Public prosecutors warn of the fatal consequences of "legal highs". In: sueddeutsche.de . October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017 .
  24. ^ Uwe Hellmann : Commercial criminal law . Kohlhammer Verlag , October 30, 2018, ISBN 978-3-17-031444-3 , p. 250.
  25. ↑ Pschyrembel online: Hallucinogens , accessed January 31, 2020.
  26. ↑ Krausz, M. et al .: Kompendium Sucht , Thieme Verlag, 2004, p. 126 [7.7 Intoxication with hallucinogens: lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), phenzyklidine (PCP)] ( preview )
  27. ↑ Drug addiction , Addiction Medicine Series, Volume 4; ed. from the German headquarters for addiction issues e. V .; 4th edition, May 2016; P. 71. ( PDF )
  28. ↑ Cannabinoid herbal mixtures before the ECJ , Legal Tribune Online
  29. ↑ Legal Highs - Ban on cannabis substitutes partly unlawful , Zeit Online
  30. ↑ Herbal mixture as a “legal high”: EU judges decide , derStandard.at
  31. ↑ BGH judgment on “Legal High” mixture - drugs are not drugs , taz.de
  32. ↑ Legal Highs - Why The Fight Against Designer Drugs Is So Tough. In: Badische Zeitung .
  33. ↑ Judgment of the Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber) of July 10, 2014: “Medicinal products for human use - Directive 2001/83 / EC - Scope - Interpretation of the term 'medicinal product' - Meaning of the criterion of suitability to influence physiological functions - Products based on Herbs and Cannabinoids - Exclusion ”. curia.europa.eu
  34. ↑ § 1, Paragraph 2, Sentence 2, NpSG
  35. ↑ New Psychoactive Substances Act (PDF; 88 kB) accessed on January 19, 2012.
  36. ↑ § 4 Consolidated Federal Law: Entire legal provision for the New Psychoactive Substances Act, version of July 26, 2015 , accessed on July 26, 2015.
  37. ↑ Synthetic drugs: New law to combat “legal highs”. In: The Standard. September 28, 2011, accessed September 14, 2014.
  38. ↑ Swiss Narcotics Directory Ordinance, BetmVV-EDI of December 1, 2011 (PDF; 130 kB) accessed on May 9, 2013.
  39. ↑ Swiss Narcotics Directory Ordinance, BetmVV-EDI (PDF; 115 kB) December 1, 2012; Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  40. ↑ Another step in the fight against designer drugs. Federal administration admin.ch, December 11, 2012; Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  41. ↑ Proposal by the European Commission to amend Regulation (EC) No. 1920/2006 with regard to the exchange of information, the early warning system and the risk assessment procedure for new psychoactive substances (PDF) August 29, 2016, COM (2016) 547 final
  42. ↑ Proposal of the European Commission to amend the framework decision 2004/757 / JHA of the Council of October 25, 2004 laying down minimum provisions on the elements of criminal offenses and the penalties in the area of ​​illegal drug trafficking with regard to the definition of drugs (PDF) September 17, 2013, COM (2013) 618 final